Defeat
by bridgie797
Summary: She was out to avenge her sister's death. She'd been trained to fight in so many ways since early childhood, but had never believed she'd needed it. Now, for all her training, Gabriella was unsure she could fight the battle before her.
1. Chapter 1

She stood there before him and stared blankly. She was exhausted and covered in sweat. Her chest heaved as her lungs sought out enough oxygen to satisfy her heart's ferocious rhythm. Her deep brown eyes were wide. Her mouth hung open. Her deep, dark curls hung dripping with sweat where they weren't already stuck to her olive skin. Her muscles still twitched slightly from the exertion she'd exuded during the fight. Her numb chucks still clinched in her left hand were motionless, but ready enough to be called upon should she need them. Still her mind fought to catch up to the sight her eyes and body had only just absorbed.

She'd been out to find revenge on the fool who'd dared to hurt her little sister. That bastard's black mask had stuck in her mind since that wretched night only two months ago. That night she had sworn that the years of self-defense her father had paid extraordinary sums for over the years would be used to find that black leather mask and the flesh and blood fool beneath it. He had fled into the shadows as soon as she'd come rushing out the back door of their family home. She'd reached the place that freak had left her sister just as he'd hoisted himself up to the top of the fence. She'd seen his mask for only a moment as he'd looked back on her holding her beloved little sister even as her heart had stopped.

Now, in a moment of panic, Gabriella stood sucking in air and trying desperately to understand why the man lying beaten by her own hand was the man she'd fallen in love with during that same two month time period. How could that black leather masked covered fool be her beautiful blue eyed Troy?


	2. The Vow

Defeated – Chapter Two – The Vow

The darkness of a moonless night surrounded them. Only the light coming from the nearby nightclubs and theater district gave them enough visibility to use their eyes as a resource of essential information. His breathless, husky voice let out another groan as he lied there with blood pouring from his broken nose and broken jaw. That last blow had broken more than just his bones; it had broken his mask, his silence, and his secret.

Gabriella's mind continued to war with her heart. There was no way imaginable that she could reconcile what she saw immediately before and her and what her heart knew to be irrevocably true. He couldn't be behind the mask. She hated the mask. She loathed the very existence of the blood that ran through his veins. And yet, there three feet away, holding his jaw, and reaching frantically for his fallen mask, laid her beloved angel of a man. He'd been her stronghold. He'd been her refuge. He'd been her foundation. He'd been what remained of her belief in love. He couldn't be the man she'd sought. She hated that man for what he'd done. What was she supposed to do now?

Troy held his jaw with his left hand and frantically patted the ground in search of his mask. If he could just get the mask back on, he might be able to fix this somehow. She was no longer on the attack; something he was immensely grateful for, but he could see the emotional war beginning in her eyes. He could see the pain swimming in the sea of terror. He knew when her thoughts cleared, she'd redouble her efforts and he'd never have a chance to explain to her again. He'd be dead.

Gabriella saw so many memories flashing through her mind. Her eyes closed briefly in an effort to stop the ceaseless barrage of emotionally conflicting images. He was there with his mask looking down her as she held Isabella. Then, she flashed to the sight of him lying next to her in bed bare-chested and happy. Then she'd see him leaping from the fence and hear his steps pound the pavement as he'd run from her home. Then the moment she'd met him in the coffee shop, or one of their many sparring matches in the park.

Troy found that swath of leather that gave him the anonymity that made him feel so safe. He raised the mask to his face, but stopped and looked at it momentarily. He wondered why he was putting it back on. She knew. Now, she knew. What good was a mask going to do him now?

Gabriella shook her head and stumbled backwards. She brought her hands up to her head. She was beginning to hyperventilate. Her mind and her heart were at war within her. It was a vicious battle. She stumbled and landed on her butt with her hands scraping along the gravel covering the roof of the city building. Downtown's larger buildings had used other materials, but some of the older ones still had the tar and gravel roofing.

Troy managed to heave himself in a forward direction. He wasn't on his feet yet. He was just sitting up against the small ledge that skirted the building's roof. "Gabi, baby…" he slurred. "Peas, Gabi…"

Gabriella felt both the tear and bile rise at the same time. She had to get out of here. She had to get away from this. It was too much. It couldn't be real. She had to think. She had to cry. She had to be safe.

Troy got himself up onto his wobbly legs and began making awkward steps toward her.

Gabriella recovered enough the moment she heard his shuffling. She looked up with renewed determination and glared, "Stay the fuck away from me, you freak! I won't let you take me down like you took my sister!"

Troy stopped instantly. She thought he'd been the one to kill her sister? He starred at her loathing-filled eyes. Her beautiful chocolate colored irises had been over burdened by her pupils leaving her eyes looking a very deep charcoal black shade. It was Troy's turn to be stunned speechless. He'd known she wanted revenge on the bastard who'd hurt her sister. He'd heard her say numerous times that she'd not rest until he was dead. He'd never known the he she was referring to was himself.

Before he could recover from his speechlessness, she swung her numb chuck around the wire overhead and zip lined down to the next small building below. She turned and glared up at him for a moment before zip lining farther down toward the sidewalks. She'd fit right in during this weekend of the year. GenCon was in town. She'd look like any other latina dressed in Elektra like attire. The fact that her red silk and spandex outfit was more pants suit like than Elektra's leotard wouldn't have stopped any male alive from noticing her.

Troy continued to hold his jaw as he watched her fly away from him and get lost into the crowds. He knew having his jaw wired shut was going to delay his ability to explain this to her, but he was going to have to find a way to accomplish the task anyway. She had just disappeared with his heart in hand. He knew he loved her and he knew she loved him back. Now, though, he'd have to fight a whole different battle than the one he'd thought he was fighting. He'd thought he'd come out tonight to fight beside her, not with her. Now, he realized, he'd be fighting for her heart as much as to help her find resolution to the pain that was surely beginning to consume her heart even now. Softly he thought to himself, "I love you, Gabriella. I will find you again."


	3. The Dark

Defeat – Chapter 3 – The Dark

The dark, dingy alleyway she found herself in didn't matter half as much as the torrent of tears pouring down her face. The sheer volume of tears had rendered her blind and then breathless. She sank down the side of the old brick building as his eyes stared back at her from just across the trash that surrounded her. She knew he was not really there, but she could see his eyes none the less.

The sounds of the people cheering and shouting about their beloved Marvel comic book heroes was completely drowned out by the pressure in her ears. Gabriella felt something move against her arm and she jumped. She looked down to see nothing more sinister than a mouse. Still, she gathered her senses and moved on away from the alleyway.

* * *

Several hours later, Troy found himself climbing back into his trusty tree house. After his parents had died, he'd come home from college to handle things. Then the next thing he knew he had a house and job and no one to share them with. Slowly he'd begun to clean out those things of his parents' that he didn't need, but the house was still a wreck. So, Troy had started storing his vigilante gear in his tree house. He'd, of course, installed a new locking mechanism, but otherwise it was the same old tree house.

Troy stripped off the leather suit and gear with ease, his body pulsing with pain each time he faltered in his movements. He didn't trust his bloody, blurry vision. He was gingerly testing each motion before committing to it. Slowly the pieces fell away and he was left with nothing more than a basic pair of workout shorts and a t-shirt. He sat hunched over perched on nothing but an old cot his father had set up for him years ago. He leaned his forehead into his hands and fought to control the tears that were blurring his already altered vision. He convulsed as a sob of emotional pain tore through him. He screamed out loud as he ached for her.

Slowly, he rose from the cot and made his way down to the solid ground. He made his way over to the house and into the kitchen. He patched up what he could. Finally, he drove himself to the ER in Mars Hill where no one would recognize him and the false explanation for severe injuries were an expected part of health care.

* * *

Gabriella lied in the plush bed in her mother's New York City townhouse. She'd told her mom she needed a vacation from the madness that life brought. Her mom had been so thrilled her daughter was doing something she considered normal that she overlooked the sadness and bruises and just handed her keys to their place in New York.

Now, as Gabriella lie miserable and confused in the soft bedding, she wondered if her mother had been right that there were some things no one could fix and therefore no one should ever bother to try. Gabriella recalled all the times she had chastised her mother or complained to friends or lovers about how shallow her mother was. She used to rail and scream about the heartlessness her mother's intentionally blind vanity exuded onto the world.

Gabriella wiped the tears from her cheek as she gripped the pillow tighter. She'd been in love with him. His soft brown hair and his baby blue eyes had melted her defenses. His charm and subtle wit had whittled away her resistance. She'd been innocently hoping in some recess of her mind that he was different, that he was safe and as wonderful as she wanted him to be. She'd been hoping and she'd been wrong.

* * *

Troy sat quietly on the old gurney. The nurses had cleaned and dressed his less spectacular wounds, but the doctor had insisted on x-rays of his jaw and neck. The doc had come back to wire his jaw. Now, Troy was waiting for the nurses to return with his prescriptions before he left. He wouldn't be able to fill the prescriptions because he'd given them a completely false identity, but they would expect him to wait for the small pieces of paper. And so, he waited.

His physical pain was substantial, but his mind wasn't focused on it. His head swam with her words, _I won't let you take me down like you took my sister!_ Troy sat in his hunched position trying to withstand the damage she'd left him harboring. He loved her.


	4. The Time

Defeat – Chapter Four – The Time

Gabriella let her eyelids slip closed again. Her body felt tight and tense from the abundance of sleep she'd allowed herself to wallow in over the past week. She hadn't so much as left the townhouse in seven days. She'd barely left the bed. Yet, even as another tearful sob escaped her, she felt no easing of the pain behind the tears.

The depth of the sorrow within her seemed endless. She'd lost the sole owner of her unconditional love the night her sister had died. She'd replaced the motivation from love with a motivation born of pure hatred for the man in the suit. Then she'd found a companion in Troy. He'd known loss just as she had. He knew how to fight and how to help her refine her skills. Now, she realized that he'd really been testing her.

With little more to sustain her than her despair, she made her way down to the kitchen. Her mother had had the cabinets fully stocked. A family friend had prepared a few meals and left them for her along with some fresh flowers on the dining room table. Gabriella saw all it, but couldn't bring herself to so much as smile at their existence. Instead she made herself heat up some food and got comfortable in the living room. She drew a blanket over her cool skin and rested the plate in front of her face. Eating was difficult because nothing sounded particularly appealing. Still she ate mindless of the taste or satisfaction of her hunger.

* * *

Troy eased his way around the big empty house. She'd been in his life for 9 weeks. In that 9 weeks, she'd made the large domicile feel like a home again. She'd reminded him what the difference between a house and a home was. A house was nothing more than walls that contained your stuff; a home was a place that held the people, the things, and the memories that made a life.

Now, Troy looked around at the mess that had accumulated in her absence. She'd have never let him get away with this if she were here. That was when it hit him again for the 59 millionth time, she was gone. He felt the tears rise and his body ache. He rubbed his hand roughly against the back of his neck and let out a heavy sigh. He glanced at the kitchen knowing that all that waited for him there was a protein shake and a straw. He missed her so much he could barely function.

* * *

Gabriella sat quietly staring at the beautifully decorated wall before her. She had no use for her mother's love of overt status symbols. She had shunned the dainty things her mother had lavished on her since birth. Instead she had given an intense commitment to the various fighting lessons her father had spent enormous hours procuring and extraordinary sums of money paying for. She'd never believed she'd need them, not until her sweet, beautiful little sister had been taken from this world. Now, she knew, she needed them. In fact, she needed every lesson her father had ever taught her in this life: fight hard, keep people at an arm's length, and don't invest your happiness in anyone but yourself.

A card arrived in his mailbox. It had no writing on it. There was just the picture inside. Troy turned the picture over and knew that his life was about to get increasingly complicated. The picture told him that his beloved was in danger. He had to protect her even though it had been her who had beaten him to the state he was currently in.

Gabriella opened the door and signed the register that the messenger handed to her. She passed the clipboard back and accepted the package he'd been holding for her. She ignored his passive attempts to flirt with her. She closed the door immediately and began to open the box. There were few people who could guess at her whereabouts.

With the brown packaging paper discarded to the floor, Gabriella stood silently in the entryway. She knew what the image meant. She was being called back to New Mexico.

* * *

Troy stretched his shoulders and arms as he waited in the terminal. He had managed to get her flight information. Now, it was just a matter of telling her before she killed him. He was hoping that the shock of seeing him in a public forum where she didn't expect him might give him enough time out of sheer shock to make his case to her.

Now, he ran his hand over his face and tried to remember the precise wording he'd been practicing for a month. _I love you. I'm not the bad guy. I didn't hurt your sister. All I did was bring her home. I didn't call the bastard who hurt her. I'm still trying to track him down. You'll be the first to know as soon as I do. I love you, Gabriella._

It was as simple as he could make it. More importantly, it was as quick as he could make it. He just hoped the shock didn't wear off before he finished sentence number three.

He stepped to the side of the gate she would enter. He couldn't help the tension in his muscles. Normally, he'd be considerably calmer when coming up on an adversary, but he couldn't help the fear he felt roaming around inside of him. He watched as each passenger stepped out of the gate.


End file.
